Tell the story as if it were only of interest to the small circle of your characters, of which you may be one. There is no other way to put life into the story.
Interpretation
The essence of storytelling lies in its authenticity and relevance to the characters involved.
Horacio Quiroga emphasizes that a story must resonate with the intimate experiences and interests of its characters to truly convey the richness of life. By focusing on a small circle of characters, the narrative can cultivate authentic connections and bring vibrancy to the tale, making it more engaging for readers.
In practice
A writer sharing insights on character development in a workshop.
Your film is like your children. You might want a child with certain qualities, but you are never going to get the exact specification right. The film has a privilege to live its own life and develop its own character. To suppress this is dangerous. It is an approach that works the other way too: sometimes the footage has amazing qualities that you did not expect.
If you get something right, you really feel it, right in your chest, on stage. I think it's an incomparable experience.
There is no reason why a serious film, one about life, can't be enjoyable, maybe even fun. Emotions can be very entertaining, you know. I try to use them generously in my films.
Making movies is not rocket science. It's about relationships and communication and strangers coming together to see if they can get along harmoniously, productively, and creatively. That's a challenge. When it works, it's fantastic and will lift you up. When it doesn't work, it's almost just as fascinating.
Television and cinema were all very well, but these stories happened to other people. The stories I found in books happened inside my head. I was, in some way, there. It's the magic of fiction: you take the words and you build them into worlds.
As for me, Poetry takes the place of love, because it is enamored of itself, and because this self-lust has a delightful dying fall in my soul.
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